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Social network Twitter has published its latest transparency report, and singled out the US, Turkey and Russia, for dramatically increasing the number of requests on user information over the last six months of 2014.
The number of government requests on Twitter user information rose 40 percent overall during that period, to 2,871 individual requests, the company reported Monday.
The US was again the most active country in seeking information, logging 1,622 requests on nearly 3,300 accounts. US requests were up 29 percent compared to the first six months of 2014, but Twitter’s compliance with those requests rose only 8 percent. Interestingly, Russia, which had never requested Twitter user information before, logged 108 information requests during the last six months of 2014. Turkey’s requests were up over 150 percent to 356. The company said it didn’t provide information to any of Russia’s requests, nor Turkey’s.
Twitter is one of dozens of Internet companies that frequently reports on government requests for information. Many companies started offering the data after leaks by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden in 2013 revealed that the US government was actively accessing user information on popular websites. But Twitter has been logging transparency reports since 2012.
Twitter’s transparency report contains worldwide government requests received for account information. Most of the requests relate to a criminal investigation, according to Twitter. In addition, the company for the first time has also included non-government information requests brought to it through the legal process.
But despite all the information Twitter provided, one item is still lacking: secret surveillance requests. The company last year filed a lawsuit against the US government seeking the ability to publish surveillance requests, but has so far not won the ability to do so.
Twitter did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
